Basketball through the years

Canadian James Naismith invented the game of basketball in 1891 when he was an instructor at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass. The school director was having trouble keeping energetic young men happy in the gym.

They were tired of calisthenics.

He gave Naismith 14 days to come up with a solution.

Basketball was the result.

Posting his 13 rules of play on the gym’s bulletin board, he formed two teams of nine members each, three guards, three centers and three forwards using a soccer ball to throw into fruit baskets he nailed to both ends of the gym balcony.

Until they thought to remove the bottom of the baskets, the janitor had to get a ladder to retrieve the ball every time a player scored.

From such a simple beginning, we have a fast-moving game with intricate patterns of play that attracts devotees worldwide and as a profession, involves millions of dollars.

It is a game I love to watch.

My personal reaction to ball playing is to get out of the way. I was always the last person chosen to be on a team, which never hurt my feelings.

I wouldn’t choose me either.

One thing I’m very good at, I am an appreciator.

Sit me up on the top row of the stands where I can lean against the wall and save my poor aching back and I am a happy watcher person.

Unlike football, where the spectators seem to spend a great deal of time noisily clomping up and down the bleacher stairs, basketball fans tend to stay in one place.

Oh, they jump up and down, yell and holler, clang cow bells and sometimes whistle loud enough to pierce a steel door, but as long as they don’t block my view, we are fine.

In December, Hilton Head High School had the Seahawk Basketball Classic, sponsored by the Omni Resort and the next week, Bluffton High School had the 7th Annual Bobcat Classic Holiday Tournament presented by Ultimate Carwash and Dairy Queen. I congratulate those businesses for supporting our athletes. Boy’s and girl’s teams came from Georgia and Florida, Kentucky and Ohio, Alabama and from here in South Carolina.

Unhappily, our home teams didn’t win the championships, but I saw some great ball playing.

Years ago, when our daughters spent time on the basketball courts, I learned some hard truths about the game. Girls are not only good at basketball, they play rough, tough and to win.

Whoever designed the schools’ gyms didn’t make it easy for sports fans.

The parking lots are vague. Neither school has a designated spot for visiting team buses.

I left my car, way over there somewhere and slogged across to the gym entrance. It was cold and later, it was colder and dark to boot.

But, inside, lights were bright, the sound system equal to any found in an airport terminal and spirits ran high. Refs out on the court, with their whistles at the ready.

The buzzer sounded and the game began.

I looked down at these earnest young athletes and remembered high school basketball games with players like Johnny Rousakis, who became mayor of Savannah, Billy Lee, who owned a series of nightclubs and Sal Deposito, who, well, the less said, the better. But, boy, he was good lookin’.

Doling out towels and water were managers, like Ray Tucker, who had an esteemed career with Westinghouse as a systems analyst and Wally Butler, of Operation Jackpot fame.

In the blink of an eye, the young men and women playing the challenging game of basketball today will become our hope for the future.

If they handle their lives as well as they handle that leather orb, they will succeed.

As for Mr. Naismith, he went on to have an outstanding career and became a United States citizen in 1925 at the age of 64.

And, as he said, “The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play ‘Drop the Handkerchief.’